The comparative study on the ecological sensitivity analysis in Huixian karst wetland, China

This paper applies two methods to analyze the ecological sensitivity in Huixian wetland, (Guangxi province, China). The one method (the ecological unit method) is that the Huixian wetland reserve is divided into several ecological units according to different geographic condition and agricultural structure; the main factors of ecological sensitivity are selected; Delphi and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) are applied to determine evaluation factors and the weight of each factor; at last, Index Accumulation Method (IAM) is adopted to evaluate the ecological sensitivity. The other method (the GIS method) is that using ecological sensitivity indexes and GIS spatial analysis module, makes a comprehensive evaluation of the ecological sensitivity in Huixian wetland. The results of the ecological sensitivity analysis show that the most sensible zone lies in the centre of the wetland reserve, which can be set to the core protection area. The high sensibility zone is around the core protection area, which can be set to the buffer zone or experimental zone. The lowest sensibility zone is located in the east of the wetland reserve, which can be set to the demonstration area. The compared results of the two different methods show that the first method, the ecological unit method, can be used in case of comparative shortage of existing data. The ecological sensibility distribution is relatively explicit. The second method, the GIS method, can be used in case of the abundant Remote Sensing (RS) and geographic information systems (GIS) data. The analytical results are meticulous and objective. The ecological sensibility distribution is relatively implicit.